This season, Kubiak and Smith have the Texans 1-0 and favored on the road for only the sixth time in nine seasons.

Shanahan coached Kubiak while a quarterback with Denver. He gave Kubiak his first NFL job with San Francisco in 1994, made him Denver's offensive coordinator and then promoted him to become a head coach.

"I'm so happy for him because I think everybody can see the job he has done," Shanahan said Wednesday. "He's done things the right way. It seems like this team handles itself the right way, with a lot of class, and it looks like they've built up quite a team."

Shanahan recommended Kubiak to McNair in 2002 when he hired Dom Capers. Shanahan was certain Kubiak had everything it took to become a successful head coach.

"Gary's a very intelligent guy, and he's very competitive, and I know how he deals with players and people," Shanahan said. "He's played the game for a long time, and when you see people play and you watch them coach, you get a gut feeling that they will be very good.

"There's nothing like experience. You're constantly learning. You learn to delegate more, and you know it's a combination of knowing a lot of good people all going in the same direction because nobody can do it by themselves."

Vote of confidence

Smith was an assistant coach under Shanahan who, like Kubiak, earned two Super Bowl rings. When Smith asked Shanahan about moving into the personnel department, his boss was supportive.

"He worked extremely hard," Shanahan said of Smith. "He had a lot of passion in what he was doing. He's an extremely bright guy. I thought all he needed was an opportunity.

"Rick worked very hard at personnel. I thought it was just a matter of time before he became a GM. He's done a great job. Just take a look at their squad both offensively and defensively; they've got a lot of players."

Kubiak and Smith are trying to extend their record to 2-0 over Shanahan. The Texans defeated Denver when Shanahan was still leading the Broncos.

"Probably everything I know as a pro football coach is from Mike," Kubiak said. "Not only did I play for him, but he gave me my chance in San Francisco, and then he took me to Denver to be his coordinator when I wasn't ready. But he made me ready real fast.

"I owe a great deal to him."

Smith feels the same way.

"Mike put me in position to be exposed to everything I needed to learn so I could get where I am today, so I owe everything to him," Smith said. "What I learned the most from him is that you have to set a standard and hold people accountable to that standard."

Until this season, Shanahan's son, Kyle, was an assistant under Kubiak, including the last two years as offensive coordinator. When daddy was hired by the Redskins after spending a year out of football, he hired his son for the same position.

"Kyle's got a good feel of what he's talking about," Shanahan said. "He understands the game very well. I think we both got some strong personalities, but when someone really has studied and got a great knowledge of coverages and what you're trying to do, it's pretty easy to get along with them."

Offsetting advantages

Kyle Shanahan's thorough familiarity with the Texans could be an advantage for the Redskins.

"It's a two-edged sword," Shanahan said. "They know Kyle. They know what he's thinking, down and distance-wise, his philosophy. Going against each other, I think it kind of negates everything because they know each other.

"I think everybody will have some wrinkles to offset their tendencies, but it comes down to just playing sound football."

The Texans are coming off a monumental victory over Indianapolis. The Redskins are coming off a victory over Dallas. The winner is going to rank as one of the league's most interesting early-season success stories.

"We've both been doing this for so long," Kubiak said. "It's another game.

"Are we going to see our friends and guys we're close to? Yeah, so that makes it a little different. It's important because it's the next one, and I'm sure the Redskins feel the same way."